According to businesspeople in Bangladesh, the nation currently imports very little woolen fabric from China, Italy, or England to manufacture high-end knitwear sweaters, shirts, suits, and pants for export.
With a goal of tenfold growth to US $1 billion in the next five years, Bangladesh is now attempting to significantly enhance its yearly exports of high-end woolen garments.
Australia, a significant wool producer in the world, is pushing for this goal by looking to Bangladesh as a possible substitute for China in the wool processing industry.
According to media reports, Bangladesh is currently able to make high-value clothing, but its ability to reach its full potential in the US$17 billion garment market—which is dominated by Australia and China—is limited by the lack of indigenous sources for raw materials like yarn and fabric.
The building of wool processing factories in Bangladesh, according to entrepreneurs, would increase competitiveness in lead time—an area in which the nation now lags and affects customer trust in placing orders for such products—by allowing local fabrication of yarn and fabric.
Sources within the commerce ministry claim that in October, a team headed by Joe Hall, the CEO of Wool Producers Australia, the highest national organization representing the wool-producing sector, traveled to Dhaka to determine whether setting up wool processing facilities would be feasible.
